Impressions
by AprilUnicorn
Summary: 'A whole new start. That's what I keep telling myself. I'll be Rose Weasley, that confident, flawless beauty who everyone will want to be friends with' But with a new found personality, comes new obstacles. Ones that Rose had thought she would never have to face.
1. Chapter I

A whole new start. That's what I keep telling myself. No longer will I be the frizzy-haired, freckled freak I was known as before. I'll be Rose Weasley, that confident, flawless beauty who everyone will want to be friends with.

Even though I'll be a first year, no-one will cross me. Even the second years will beg to be my friend. I'll have so many party invites come Christmas season that I won't know what to do with myself. My cousins at school will let everyone know that they're related to me, so that they can bask in my glory – but I won't let them. The teachers will shower me with praise – although I won't be a prude – and Albus will be kicking himself for ditching me for Frank Longbottom all those years ago.

Long gone are those days when I was teased by the other kids for being 'the nerd'. I'll never see those muggles again. No one at Hogwarts knows about my past. For all they know, I could've been like this my whole life. My cousins don't count - they (apart from Al) never really got to know me anyway.

During the summer break, I changed my image. With the help of 'Weasley Wizard Wheezes' hair-care products I managed to tame the ginger mess that is my hair (courtesy of my mother's genes). I am now much happier with it – who knew that underneath that red nest was natural brown highlights? With just a few dabs of 'Granger Tamer' straightening cream (Which I will have to apply every day - credit to my Uncle George for the fitting title), my hair has become more manageable, and now falls slick and straight to the middle of my back.

Thankfully, my horrid freckles have begun to fade, and thanks to my recent discovery of foundation, they are virtually invisible against my tanned skin (that goodness I didn't inherit the 'pale' gene from my father). I also started a health regime, to cut out the excess baby fat I had been carrying throughout my younger years.

All in all, I felt good with how I was looking – and feeling. The scent of fear is stronger than that of confidence. If I wanted to pull off the 'new me' I'd have to _feel _confident as well as look it. With that in mind, I stood in front of my wardrobe on the night of August 31st.

Nothing really stood out to me. Fortunately, my mother was unaware of my new image so I wouldn't get bombarded with lectures on 'self worth'. Unfortunately, this meant she couldn't donate to the cause. Leaving me with my old, gross clothes that reminded me of that time when Great-Great-Aunt-Tessie's cat vomited over Hugo's 'Weasley jumper'.

I desperately rifled through the clothes, searching for at least _one _item of clothing that could be suitable. When I was appraoching the brink of despair, my eyes fell on a slither of once-bright-but-now-faded orange. Reaching in, I pulled out my very old Chudley Canons supporters t-shirt that was a present from my dad for my seventh birthday. The barely legible words 'Canons 2013' were written across the top.

The last time I had tried it on had been two years ago, when its small size had only accentuated my lumpiness. Now, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a small, but rather flattering look on me. Instead of highlighting my fat, it emphasized my now-flat stomach and cut off just below my button, revealing a slither of tanned skin.

The only downside was that the tightness of it meant that my non-existent chest was even more obvious, but I'm counting on my breasts to blossom soon. Though I'm not holding my breath, if the photos of my mother at Hogwarts are any indication.

Half of my problem solved and my spirits lifted, I once again dove into my closet and re-emerged with a pair of white denim shorts that were ¾ length. Grabbing my scissors I carefully cut the legs so that they stopped about two thirds of the way up my thighs, making them unacceptable in my parent's eyes but fairly normal in the _real world_.

After deciding on a pair of vintage lace up shoes, I changed into my pyjamas and hung up tomorrows outfit on my door, next to where my Hogwarts things were. My big brown suitcase stood against my wall, next to it my new flash 88 broomstick (thank goodness they now allowed students to bring their own brooms) and next to that my owl, Celeste, in her cage.

After checking everything was in its place, I went downstairs to say goodnight to Mum and Dad. It was okay to be a _little _sad, right? I mean, everyone must miss their parents at some point. I entered the drawing room to find my dad reviewing some files for work, and mum reading the Evening Prophet. They both looked up as I came in and both had solemn looks on their faces.

'Oh Rosie' Dad sighed, looking mournfully at me. I glowered back at him. I _hated _being called Rosie, which he knew perfectly well. However, because he looked so sad I decided to let him go and hugged him instead.

'Goodnight daddy' I whispered in his ear.

'Have a good sleep darling. We love you' Mum said, engulfing me in a hug that left me little room to breathe. After a minute or so I pulled away, smiling sadly, and trudged up the stairs to bed. I made my way down the hall and performed my nightly ritual of banging the door to Hugo's room as my way of saying goodnight. I did it extra hard because I wouldn't be doing it for a while.

I opened the door to my room and crawled straight into bed, thinking about the days ahead. I was determined to make the new me happen, not matter what it took. I was aware that the other students would have certain predispositions about me based on my parents and expect me to be the brightest witch of my age. I was smart, but certainly not Hermione Granger material. Then again I didn't try very hard, and I don't intend to. Being known as a swot would do nothing for my new image.

As I closed my eyes, thoughts of what would happen tomorrow clouded my mind. After a few minutes or so I drifted off to sleep, dreaming about what my life at Hogwarts would be like, and how everyone will sit up and take notice of the new and improved Rose Weasley.

**Authors Note: **Thank you for reading, I've never posted a story on this website before so this is very exciting for me. I'll only continue if I find people are actually reading and enjoying it (it motivates me heaps) so reviews are much appreciated. I know Rose's character is a bit of brat but you have to realise she suffered pretty traumatic stuff at her muggle school. Her character will change as the story progresses. Anyway, thanks so much for reading!

April Unicorn


	2. Chapter II

I made my way down the centre aisle of the Hogwarts Express. I passed a few spare compartments but I didn't want to sit by myself. I wanted to actually meet people. By the time the train started to move I was beginning to feel a little panicky. What if everyone had already made friends by the time I found a compartment? I would be left behind before we'd even arrive at Hogwarts.

I suppose I could've joined my cousins in their compartment. I wouldn't exactly have been showered with greetings, but it would be company. The only other people I knew were Al and Frank, but I wouldn't sit with _them _if you payed me a million galleons. Frank was an immature idiot, who had an even uglier face than his pet toad. Not only was he largely unattractive, he had always been an absolute pig to me. Whenever his family would come over to the burrow he always took delight in teasing me about my hair and my freckles – who's laughing now, piggy?

His reaction to my new look on the platform this morning was priceless. Once he recognized who I was, a look of complete shock – and dare I say desire – crossed his face, and he immediately turned to Al, looking like it was all he could do to resist turning around and checking if it was me again. Of course, he avoided me not out of politeness, but because he was blushing and didn't want me to see.

I continued down the centre aisle, and tried to think of some sort of tactic I could use to join a compartment. Like pretending there were no spare ones left. I hadn't seen a group of first years yet (it was easy to tell who the newbies were), and I was beginning to believe that Frank, Al and I were the only ones.

Suddenly, I felt someone push me into the glass. Looking up quickly to tell the person off, I saw the back of my cousin James' head further up the aisle. The idiot must've pushed me. James and I have always clashed terribly. We're both Weasley tempered and defensive, and have had to be stopped from killing each other on countless occasions.

I scowled at his retreating figure and kept walking down the aisle with my head down. This was _not _how it was supposed to go. Stupid James and his stupid antics.

'Do you know where the trolley lady is?' a voice behind me sounded. I whipped around and found myself in the presence of a dark skinned, handsome boy who looked around my age, but taller.

'Nah. I don't think she comes round til lunch' The boy looked disappointed. 'You can have these if you want' I said, taking out a packet of liquorice wands from my pocket and giving them to him. Dad had put them in my pocket just before I got on the train, but I didn't want them anyway.

'I hadn't planned on eating them anyway' I added when I caught his look of hesitance.

He took the sweets from me and smiled. He truly had an amazing smile – he seemed like perfect friend material. Then he asked the question that I had been aching to hear for the past half hour.

'Hey, are you sitting with anyone?'

'Uh, not yet' I tried to sound like I didn't really care, but it was becoming harder by the minute. I was just so relieved.

'Sit with us' He said, flashing that radiant smile again. I couldn't say no to that face – not that I was planning to, anyway.

I followed further up the aisle. As I walked beside him I felt his gaze on me a couple of times and smiled to myself. I decided to initiate the conversation.

'I'm Rose by the way'

'Hayden Zabini' he said and we awkwardly shook hands when he stopped at a compartment. Walking in, I saw a brown head girl and a blonde head boy sitting down.

'Find her, Zabini?' the boy asked.

'Nah, but I got these' Hayden said and took out the liquorice motioned for me to sit down.

'Guys, this is Rose. Rose this is Scorpius Malfoy and Jamieson Nott'. I smiled at Jamieson who returned the greeting. My eyes then fell on Scorpius. He was extremely good looking, anyone could acknowledge that. He had light blonde hair that sat messily on his head, and pale blue eyes. I nodded at him and he smirked good-naturedly back at me.

'Let me guess, you're a Weasley?' Scorpius asked. I got the impression from his tone of voice that he didn't think too much of the Weasley name. I knew then that I had to fix this situation. These kids seemed like the type that would be popular, and this was my chance to get in their crowd. I rolled my eyes and played it cool.

'Unfortunately' I drawled. I know I should've felt guilty, bagging my family name like that, but it was true. It_ was_ unfortunate for me. My cousins weren't very nice people, to me at least, and they had always excluded me because I was the freak.

Feeling myself becoming more malicious by the second – and being strangely satisfied with that – I continued.

'I'm considering dying my hair – just to avoid being associated with them' I had been considering it actually, but I was too scared of my parents reactions to go ahead and do it.

'Would that work? You look pretty similar to the rest of them' Jamieson said.

'I'll try anything' I shrugged and sat back into the seat in cross-legged position.

Hayden was sitting next to me and was sharing the liquorice wands with Scorpius and Jamieson.

'So Rose' Hayden said 'what house do you want to be in?'

'Anything but gryffindor'

'Hear, hear' Jamieson chuckled and we high fived.

'Or hufflepuff' Scorpius said, shivering mockingly. I nodded my head in agreement. It would be absolutely awfully to be sorted into Hufflepuff house.

'If I was sorted into Hufflepuff I would feed myself to the giant squid' I said, and Scorpius snorted at this. I smiled inwardly to myself. My plan was working – these people actually _wanted _to have a conversation with me. So far, so good.

**Authors Note: **Woohoo! Second chapter finished! Thankyou for reading, and special thanks to honey badger 7437 for reviewing. I love love love reviews!

April Unicorn


	3. Chapter III

By the time we reached the Great Hall I was happy with my progress. Not only had I made a few first year friends, I had a few third year ones as well.

One of them was Hayden's older sister Dante, who, when Hayden had introduced me, went on for a five minute rant about how much she loved my hair, and then listed the pros and cons of dying her hair that colour. It was very sweet of her to compliment me really, but the topic of conversation bored me to tears. I acted enthusiastic though, because I suspected she wasn't the type of girl to talk to (let alone compliment) just any old first year.

She must've been pleased with my reaction, because she introduced me to her best friend Amber Collins, and her boyfriend Blake McLaggen. Dante also invited me to sit in her compartment, because she thought I 'had good vibes'. I didn't want to ask her what that meant so I just went along with it.

It was a bit awkward sitting in her compartment. She sat on Blake's lap feeding him drooballs the whole time, so I struck up a conversation with Amber about the new perfume line from Brown&Patil. I was quite surprised about how much I knew on the topic – all I can say is thank god I'm a loving daughter who buys her mother designer perfume every Christmas and birthday. Amber seemed quite impressed with my knowledge of the topic, and I even found I was enjoying myself with her. Too bad she was a third year, or we could've been close.

By the time I had left their compartment (after planning to exchange perfume samples with Amber), there was still three hours until the train arrived. I spend that time back in my compartment and participated in a lengthy discussion of music with Hayden and Scorpius – Scorpius, I found, was quite intelligent on the subject, and had similar tastes to me.

I don't think Jamieson was too pleased about our extensive conversation. She seemed pretty possessive of the boys, especially Scorpius, whom I suspect she had a crush on. When we had about an hour to go she left to get changed and came back with another girl who she seemed to be good terms with.

The girl's name was Claudine Delacour, and I recognized her as the daughter of my Aunt Fleur's brother. She seemed to know me as well, probably from the red hair. We got along okay, a bit awkwardly at first, but the whole Weasley thing broke the tension a bit.

I stood in the line at the front of the Great Hall. The hall was absolutely magnificent and had blown me away when I walked in. The ceiling was especially amazing and had been charmed to depict the night sky, which was thankfully clear tonight. The ghosts had freaked me out a bit and I heard James and my other idiotic cousin Fred laugh at me when the Bloody Baron had flown past and I gave a little squeak.

I glared at them and noticed all my other cousins at Hogwarts sitting at the Gryffindor table. All of them except Teddy (who wasn't actually related to us), Hugo and Lily (Al and James' little sister) were at Hogwarts this year. I glanced at Al, who was standing in front of me. It was dead obvious which house he would be in. He was basically the poster child for Gryffindor, not to mention he was the son of Harry Potter.

Professor Longbottom stood up the front and unravelled some parchment. One by one, in alphabetical order, he started to read out the names of the first years to be sorted. Looking around, I saw other kids were relieved that we didn't actually have to do anything to be sorted – just put a dirty old hat on our head.

'Malfoy, Scorpius' Professor Longbottom said. I smiled at him in good luck from where he stood next to me and he squeezed my hand before sitting on the stool, and placing the hat on his head. After about 2 seconds, the hat yelled 'SLYTHERIN'. No surprise there.

I clapped loudly for Scorpius and he gave me a quick smirk and wink. I smirked back playfully as Professor Longbottom called out the next name.

'Jamieson Nott' Jamieson went up and was also sorted into Slytherin where she joined Claudine.

'Albus Potter' As expected, whispers erupted around the hall at his name. The hat shouted GRYFFINDOR the second Al put the hat on his head. He sat down next to Frank the pig who had also been sorted there (not sure how though, he always seemed like a hufflepuff to me).

Finally, my name was called. 'Rose Weasley'. I walked (okay, maybe I strutted….slightly) to the stool and confidently placed the hat on my head. I knew it took choice into account, and I had already made up mind. From what I could make of the other kids in my year, out of all of them, the slytherin's seemed by _far _the coolest. I had already made a name for myself amongst some of the first and third years there as well, so it was my obvious choice.

I was bit shocked when I heard the hat growling in my head. '_I don't even have a nose and I could smell your ambition from a mile away. Oh…and you WANT to be there? Well, I always like to give people a shock. Okay Weasley. _SLYTHERIN' it shouted. There were several gasps from the around the room, and without even looking, I could tell my cousins were torn between looking shocked or ashamed. I liked to think it would be a combination of the two.

I walked proudly to the Slytherin table, very pleased with the outcome. Scorpius, Dante and Amber had clapped the loudest for me and I was grateful for their acceptance of me into their house. I shook hands with the people and received a few curious stares, but no glares as of yet thank goodness.

Finally the last person was called. 'Hayden Zabini'. Hayden walked up confidently and placed the hat on his head. 'SLYTHERIN' it immediately shouted and he practically ran to our table. I laughed and patted him on the back as he took a seat next to me.

As were eating the delicious dinner I noticed other people at the Slytherin table giving me sideways glances and whispering to each other. I guess having a Weasley in Slytherin house had caused a bigger stir up than I initially thought.

Clifford Flint, another first year Slytherin, didn't seem particularly happy with my involvement in his house. 'Having a Weasley in the house is an insult to Salazar Slytherin himself' he said loudly when the food was being served. Clifford was a tall and gangly lad with a rather scary face – I didn't want to get on the wrong side of him.

'I think you'll find I don't quite fit the typical Weasley description' I said cooly.

'Its true Flint. She's one of us' Amber, Dante's friend, said in my defence. I gave her a grateful smile, which she returned. Despite common belief, the slytherins were fiercely loyal to one another.

Flint just grunted at this, but I took it as a form of acceptance from him.

I spoke to Scorpius and Hayden mostly throughout the meal, and a bit with Claudine and Jamieson (who were sitting across from us) too. All of their parents had been in Slytherin as well, and it sounded like they would be proud to continue the legacy.

My parents, on the other hand, were most likely to be horrified at the thought of their only daughter in Slytherin. But I knew my parents loved me unconditionally, despite my ambitious nature, and in contrary to what other people might think, I knew they would eventually get used to the idea of me being a snake.

xxx

I lay awake in bed that night, listening to the sounds of the other girls in my dormitory. Claudine and Jamieson were gossiping about the boys in our house (honestly, we're first years!) and the other girl, Sapphire Bagman, was sleeping – and snoring, unfortunately.

I had crawled into bed that night, absolutely exhausted. It had been a long, but good day. My plan was in action and for the first time in a long while, I was truly happy. Amber's words at the slytherin table were whirling around in my head. 'She's one of us'. It felt good to finally be a part of something.

**Authors Note: **Thanks for reading! Again, I realize Rose is superficial brat but I do intend to build her character and reveal more layers to her. Reviews really keep me motivated, so keep them coming.

April Unicorn


	4. Chapter IV

**Authors Note: **This chapter skips to fifth year, and is pretty long compared to my other ones. Enjoy:)

Five years passed.

Scorpius, Hayden, Clifford, Jamieson, Claudine and I had formed a sort of 'gang' within our house. Of course, we weren't restrictive and I branched out and formed casual friendships with some other people as well – a majority of them were Ravenclaws, and a few were Hufflepuffs.

I had tried to steer clear from the Gryffindors. I suppose there were a _few _of them that were all right, but the word 'Gryffindor' generally meant 'Weasley', and that was a word I didn't want to associate myself with too much.

Admittedly, my relationship with my parents suffered slightly when I was sorted in slytherin. My father, as expected, wasn't too pleased with the arrangement but had come round by the Christmas break – though he enjoyed poking fun of me every now and again. His way of dealing with it I suppose. My mother was very supportive of me, though she seemed a little disappointed I wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw. I think she would've liked one of her children to be a child genius - Hugo certainly wasn't. He was sorted into Hufflepuff. I still laugh every time I see him in his bright canary-yellow quidditch robes.

I was pleased with how everything had panned out over the past few years. Although I was aware that not everyone in my year liked me, I found that by the time I had established my position in Slytherin I didn't care all that much about the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs (and maybe one or two Ravenclaws) that shunned me because of my house status.

By the beginning of fifth year, I had made a name for myself at Hogwarts. I was no longer that 'stray' Weasley, I was my own person. I was outgoing, fun, and extremely confident. Sure, I didn't get as good grades as my mother did, and I probably could of if I had put more work in, but I found myself valuing my social life too much. And when you're a fifteen year old slytherin, having a social life is the key to success.

The first party of the year was to be held on the 3rd Weekend in, at the slytherin common room. This party was one the seventh years had planned, which meant it was one of the better ones. It would be smaller, but more exclusive.

I was still very close with Dante and Amber, and my boyfriend is in seventh year as well. His name is Anton and he's Clifford's older brother. And let me tell you, he is a hell of a lot more attractive than Clifford.

My group are the only fifth years that got into the party because of our connections with the seventh years. The fourth girl in our dormitory, Sapphire, wouldn't stop going on about it when we were getting ready.

'It's not fair. I _never _get invited to Slytherin parties. You guys could at least get me in'

'Shut up Bagman' Jamieson said. She was well known amongst the slytherins for her crudeness.

'The only reason Jamie and I are getting in is because of Rose' said Claudine.

'Yeah, it's not our problem she doesn't like you enough'. I threw a bra at Jamieson in response to this.

'Lay off J. Sapphire, you know I only had 2 plus ones. And I always take my girls'

'Yeah. _Always _being the key word' Sapphire muttered angrily and storm out of the dormitory. I rolled my eyes. Sapphire was always being overly dramatic. If she wasn't so damn annoying I would've gotten Anton to get her in to the party. I was always careful to not push her too far though – she was a snake after all, and I knew what she was capable of.

'Oi Rose. Can I borrow that purple midriff top of yours?' Jamieson yelled from the bathroom. I chucked it to her, laughing to myself. Scorpius was going to be at the party of course and Jamieson was _still_ pining after him. Her new plan was to play to his masculine weaknesses and leave little of her body to the imagination.

Although I'm sure Anton would have appreciated me wearing a similar outfit to Jamieson, I decided on something more modest. I didn't want to come off as desperate as she was or as, well… slutty (for lack of a better word).

Jamieson came out of the bathroom in the midriff top, which was slightly too small for her and ended two inches above her belly button (which had a diamond stuck through it) and wearing ultra short-shorts.

'Babe, you look hot!' Claudine exclaimed and went over to help her pick which heels to wear. I winced at the pitch of their voices and went on doing my hair. It is sometimes hard to keep my opinions to myself around Jamieson and Claudine. They're very loyal and great company (most of the time), but the way they act so girlish and superficial sometimes gets to me. That's why I'm closer with the guys – they're more down to earth and can actually carry a conversation that is somewhat intelligent. Well, Scorpius and Hayden can anyway. Clifford…not so much.

As I was getting my shoes on Claudine interrupted me.

'Rose. You want to look like you're going to a party with your boyfriend. Not a nunnery' I glared at her and discarded my jacket.

'Better?' I asked mockingly, knowing she probably wouldn't lay off me all night if I kept it on. She smiled in response and I grudgingly examined myself in the mirror.

My long hair was straightened (I owe my life to Granger-Tamer cream) and my eyes were outlined in black. The rest of my makeup was fairly natural – that was the way Anton liked it. I had opted for an oversized top that exposed my right shoulder and a tight mini skirt – not as short as Jamieson's though. I had standards. I had also decided against heels for tonight. I had inherited my father's height, so I didn't really need them. Instead, I was wearing black ankle boots.

I looked at Claudine through the mirror. She had an extremely tight dress that exposed her entire back, and six inch heels. Poor Claudine had always been short, but she was, in my opinion, the most gorgeous girl in our grade. I envied her long black hair and perfect skin.

We all made our way down to the common room where the party was being held. The seventh years had blocked it off to the younger students, who were probably in bed anyway.

I made my way over to where Anton was standing and he immediately put his arms around my waist. He was a bit possessive like that. Sometimes it could be annoying, but mostly it was just cute. He bent his head and gave me a chaste kiss in greeting. I smiled up at him and turned to say hi to his friend who was whooping him.

'I'm gonna get you a drink babe' he said to me, and left me with his friend, Blake.

'Looking good Rosie' Blake said. I glared at him, and he chuckled, knowing how much I hated the nickname.

'So. Who are you with tonight McLaggen?' I asked conversationally, still a bit miffed at being called Rosie.

'Why? You jealous?'

I raised my eyebrows, and crossed my arms.

'No. Actually, I just wanted to warn the poor girl. You know, of your masculinity. Or lack of it'

He narrowed his eyes at my insinuations. 'Natalie Alwood. She's my date' I smirked at this. Of course Blake would take someone like Natalie Alwood. She was a sixth year, that would do literally _anything _for a guy, and Blake had always striked me as someone who was desperate. I had never really got along with him - ever since he broke up with Dante in fourth year, and had left her distraught.

As if he sensed my boredom, Scorpius made his way over to me, followed closely by an already-tipsy Jamieson.

'Finally some stimulating company' I said loudly, so Blake could hear. He flipped me off and left, most likely to get some more firewhiskey. Scorpius smirked at Blake's retreating figure and flashed me one of his amazing smiles. Not matter what, that smile gets me every time. I smiled back slyly and eyed Jamieson who had somehow put her hands in Scorpius' pockets without him realising.

'Alright there Jamie?' I asked, nodding at her. She took out her hands hurriedly and scurried off, embarrassed at being caught. I felt kind of bad for her for a second, but shrugged it off. She wouldn't remember anyway in the morning anyway, she was too far gone.

'How much did she drink?' I asked Scorpius.

'Dunno. But she was well pissed by the time she found me'. He said. He looked at me once over, and I felt myself blush slightly under his gaze.

'Showing a bit of leg tonight, eh Rose? Didn't pin you as one of those slytherin slags' he teased. I shoved him in the shoulder.

'Shut up Scorp. I look like professor McGonagall compared to some of the girls here tonight'

'At least you don't have legs like McGonagall' We both shivered at the thought of McGonagall's legs.

I felt a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist. I turned around to face Anton, and he held me in his arms as we kissed. We pulled away, and I looked at Scorpius who had a disgusted look on his face. He had never really got along with Anton. Some childhood rivalry thing or something. That, and Scorpius tended to be a bit over-protective of me. I rolled my eyes at him (I did that a lot), took the firewhiskey from Anton and downed it quickly.

Anton was shaking his head and chuckling.

'No one can hold alcohol quite like you can babe' Scorpius laughed as well and went over to join Hayden and Clifford on the dancefloor.

Anton led me to one of the couches and pulled me onto his lap.

'I miss this' he whispered into my ear. 'I was going crazy all summer without you'. I smiled at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

'We have the whole year together Anton' I said and lowered my lips onto his. We spent a long time on the couch, catching up on the missed snogging sessions from the holidays. After a while, he led me to the dancefloor and we slow danced together. It was quite romantic actually – a nice change.

The party began to wrap up at about 3am and Anton led me to the door to my dormitory – ever the gentlemen he was.

'Thanks for tonight. It was great' I said to him, and he pulled me against him and snogged me passionately. I responded eagerly and it was all I could do to stop myself from going further.

'Anton' I breathed raggedly. 'Its late'

He nodded, also breathless and kissed me on the forehead and left.

I leant against the dormitory door, looking like a fool, and stumbled into the room quietly, making sure not to disturb Claudine and Sapphire, who were already asleep. As I was getting into bed, I heard sobs coming from inside the bathroom. It sounded like Jamieson. I made my way over there quickly. Jamieson wasn't normally one for tears, she was naturally a very tough person, and was a master at hiding her emotions – like any typical slytherin I suppose.

I opened the door slowly and peered in to find her against the wall, her head in her knees.

'Oh Jamie' I hurried over and wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed. She leaned her head against my shoulder as her tears leaked onto my arms. I stroked her head slowly and wiped off the mascara running down her face. Even though she could be annoying at times, she was my friend, and I hated to see her upset.

Eventually she lifted her head so it was level with mine.

'Why doesn't he like me, Rose? Is it because I'm ugly' Oh. So this was about Scorpius. Sighing, I gave her one of my famous 'are you serious?' looks.

'Jamieson Nott. You are absolutely stunning. If Scorpius doesn't see that, that's _his _loss' I said to her, saying the classic friendship line. I love Jamieson, I do, but to be honest, I thought Scorpius was a bit too good for Jamieson. Not looks-wise, but when it comes to personality, they were just a bit too different to work.

'What about Clifford? He's liked you for years' Ever since first year, it had been blatantly obvious to everyone that Clifford had a massive crush on Jamieson.

Jamieson hmphed. 'Clifford? He's such a dork'.

I sighed inwardly. Jamieson was turning back into her normal, crude self again. I was too tired to come to Clifford's defense so I just stood up and examined the bathroom, which was in a massive mess.

'What happened here?' I asked, thoroughly confused. All the makeup was lying in a mess on the floor and the shower curtain had been ripped from its place.

Jamieson blushed and looked at her feet.

'I don't even want to know' I said and made my way out of the bathroom before she went into detail about whichever guy she had hooked up with.

After all, there are some things you just keep to yourself.

**Authors Note: **Bit of a filler chapter. The plot will develop soon enough. Please keep reviewing!

April Unicorn


	5. Chapter V

I was woken up the next morning by a loud screeching noise. Ignoring the groans of the girls in my dormitory, I got out of bed and moved to where the sound was coming from – the window. There, on the window ledge was a miniscule owl that looked severely ruffled. I noticed it had a letter attached to its foot, so I let it in.

The letter seemed to be addressed to me – I could just make out my name written on the front in appalling handwriting. While wondering who could possibly be capable of such penmanship, I opened the note.

_Weasley. Your boyfriend is being a dick. Get your arse here now. Blake._

I ignored his foul language and assumed that by 'here' he meant the boys dormitories. I was a little concerned about what I was needed for. Had it only been six hours ago that I had seen Anton, when he kissed me goodnight after the party?

I anxiously wrapped my jacket closely around my shivering frame and silently cursed Salazar Slytherin for making our dormitories in the dungeons.

I reached his dormitory to find his other seventh year dorm mates, who looked severely pissed off at something, hovering outside the door, which was opened. They seemed relieved that I had come.

'Took you long enough' Blakes voice said from inside the room. I peered in to see Blake, looking thoroughly knackered, holding together the arms of a struggling Anton.

'He's been throwing things around the room for the past half hour. We all went to bed around 4, but he only came in at about 8' he said breathlessly.

I was confused. The first thought that popped into my head was that he was drunk. But then I dismissed the idea – Anton had never been one to drink excessively. And anyway, his friends had been asleep – why would he get drunk by himself?

'Argh' Anton cried as he tried to get out of Blake's grip. It pained me to see him so desperate.

'Let him go' I told Blake.

'See for yourself, Weasley' Blake muttered as he released Anton.

Anton's limbs were shaking and he reached for the lamp on his bedside table. For the first time since entering the room I noticed the state it was in. There were items of clothing and smashed objects littering the floors. The far window was cracked and the bathroom door seemed to be off its hinges.

Sensing Anton's next move with the lamp I leapt forward to stop him, by pulling his wrists so he was standing in front of me. Getting a closer look at his face, I noticed his skin was very pale and his eyes looked somewhat dilated. He tried to get out of my grip at first, but stopped. Not out of relaxtion, I suspect, but exhaustion. He was still twitching slightly though.

I looked over at Blake, who was standing with the other boys, and almost felt sorry for them because they looked so tired. They must've got a very limited amount of sleep.

I carefully forced Anton to sit down on the bed and felt his forehead, which was burning up. I summoned Blake over to wait next to him while I went in search of a wash cloth.

Before walking into the bathroom attached to the dormitory, I held my breath, having unfortunately experienced the horrific smell of the slytherin male toilets before. However, the bathroom smelled significantly different this time. Besides the scent of Blake's hideous after shave, and the general smell of a toilet that hadn't been flushed properly, there was some sort of medicinal scent in the air, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

After grabbing the washcloth and wetting it under the tap with coolwater (and throwing some garbage that was on the floor into the bin – I couldn't resist), I returned to my boyfriend, who hadn't seemed to calm down properly. His left arm was still twitching and he had a dazed look on his face. A look that was commonly associated with….

It was like a light bulb had flashed above my head. Except not in a good way.

No. He couldn't have.

The clues flashed through my mind. The out-of-control behaviour, the pale skin, the dilated eyes, the twitching. And that smell.

It was the cocaine. Again.

Three years ago, Clifford Flint woke me up in the middle of the night and led me to the common room, where his brother lay asleep on the couch. He gave me a clear packet filled with cocaine, with shaking hands, telling me he didn't know who he could tell who wouldn't give Anton's secret away.

Over time, Clifford and I helped Anton to kick the habit – that's how we became so close to one another. I remember being so proud of him the day he flushed down those packets of cocaine down the toilet.

Now, I couldn't be more devastated. He had been at least 18 months sober and had been doing so well.

I must have looked like I knew something because Blake looked over at me questioningly. I was surprised he hadn't figured it out earlier. But then again he was a typical, oblivious teenage guy.

I was about to say something to Blake and the others, but I stopped myself. Anton had never told anyone except Clifford and I about his addiction and he told me he had want it to be kept that way. And I had always respected that. It was my duty as a girlfriend to. So I did.

'This is just how he gets when he's sick' I said to the others nonchalantly, as if it happened all the time and there was nothing to be concerned about.

'It could be contagious though, so I would avoid the room for next day if I was you'

I didn't bother coming up with an excuse as to why _I_ was risking an illness by staying with him. They wouldn't think about it anyway. As I predicted, they all just gathered their stuff for studying and left without question.

Sighing at their stupidity, I stayed with Anton until he eventually drifted off to sleep. After I was certain he wouldn't wake up if I left him, I went to the bathroom and put it like it was before, so the boys wouldn't get suspicious. I emptied the packets in the bin, that I now realized had been holding the drugs, and cleaned up the general area.

I dreaded the confrontation that I was going to have to eventually have with Anton. I ached for him to get better, and part of me wanted to help him get through it, like last time. There was another part of me, the more slytherin part, that just wanted to avoid the situation.

I remember feeling so exploited when he had spoken to me about his problem before. I had never encountered drugs before, and didn't even know there were different types. That world had just not existed for me until Anton. Eventually, I managed to pick up on when Anton had been taking the drugs and started to notice the side effects. It used to scare me, and I guess it still does, the way such a seemingly insignificant substance can have such intense effects on a person.

After seeing the impact they had on Anton, I swore to never take drugs, medicinal or non-medicinal. I was scared that if I got involved with this whole business _again, _that it would somehow rebound on me and I would get trapped into the spiralling underworld of addiction. It idea wasn't too unrealistic. Stanger things had happened.

**Authors Notes: **So this chapter was a bit more intense I guess. Please bear in mind the story isn't supposed to be humorous, and there will be mentions of substance abuse, sex and everything that comes with an M rating. Oh and don't worry, the whole thing won't be abouts drugs.

I got some more follows today and I was so excited:) Its great people are reading and I love writing for people

April Unicorn


	6. Chapter VI

I entered the Great Hall that night to find my group already seated at the Slytherin table. They had finished their meals and were just sitting around. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten. I had spent the entire day sitting with Anton in his dormitory, worrying over the eventual conversation we would have to have.

Blake, to my surprise, came back at about eight o'clock and said he would stay in the room for the rest of the night. Which was oddly kind of him. I took advantage of his offer though and had decided to come down for some late dinner – and breakfast and lunch I suppose, considering I hadn't eaten all day. Needless to say, I was starved.

'How's Anton?' Claudine asked as I sat down in between Clifford and Claudine. No one else in the group seemed surprised by her question, so I assumed they had been told Anton was sick or something.

'Yeah, he's alright. Just a bit of a temperature' Clifford looked a bit worried at this and put my hand on his shoulder as a sign of reassurance. I was one of the only people that could see past his 'tough guy act'. When it came to his family and friends, Clifford was a complete softie. Unlike his brother, who tended to avoid showing emotion around everyone.

I piled my plate high with food and started to eat at a record pace. My friends were all giving me weird looks and Scorpius raised one of his perfect eyebrows at me.

'Hungry, Rosie?' I shoved him in the ribs for the use of that dreaded nickname.

'Shut up. I haven't eaten all day' I mumbled through my mouthful of potato.

'Say it don't spray it' Jamieson muttered moodily from across the table, dramatically waving her napkin around. I glared at her and kept eating in silence.

When I was nearly finished eating Hayden announced he was going to the library for a 'study session' and quickly stumbled out of his seat. Claudine followed in a not-so-subtle way and said she too, had to 'study'. They must've thought we were all confounded or something. Even a dementor could see they were together, and they don't even have eyes.

'I've got prefect duties. See you guys' Scorpius said, patting my shoulder, and walked off. Jamieson followed quickly after him, most likely wanting to check his patrol partner wasn't some slutty girl. I tried to bring myself to feel sympathy for Jamieson for the fact that Scorpius wasn't interested in her, but I just couldn't. She didn't deserve him, she was too shallow. I felt wicked for thinking these things about my 'friend' but it _was _the truth.

I turned to face Clifford and saw he was still looking worried.

'Something's up Rose. Tell me' He said, his voice sounding borderline distraught.

I wasn't sure if I should tell him. Anton was his brother after all, but what if it had only been a one time thing? Was there any point worrying Clifford over a simple thing? But I knew Clifford was a determined person, even more so than his brother, and, from experience, he wouldn't back down until he knew the truth.

I took a deep breath.

'He was high, wasn't he?' Clifford said before I could say anything. I nodded, and Clifford sighed, putting his head in his hands.

'How'd you guess?'

Clifford didn't answer, and instead started banging his head on the table.

'Clifford! Cliff! Stop' I demanded and managed to pulled his head up by yanking his hair.

'What was that for' he mumbled at me, rubbing his head.

We were silent for a little while. It looked like Clifford was doing some serious thinking – which was something you didn't seem him do everyday.

'Do you think he's been doing it long?' he asked.

I shook my head. 'No. I would've picked up on it. He was sober at the party last night. I'm sure of it'

'Who was his dealer then?'

'No idea. All the guys in his dormitory looked genuinely shocked'

'So it could've been a source outside of Hogwarts then?'

I shrugged my shoulders in response. I had spent a majority of the day racking my brain for the answer to that question and so many more.

'I guess we just have to wait until he wakes up' I said. Clifford nodded and followed me miserably out of the great hall.

We turned the corner, and I groaned somewhat dramatically. Standing there were my two idiot cousins, James and Fred. They both started hissing when they saw us.

Ever since I had been sorted into slytherin, James had come up with us brilliant idea of hissing whenever I was around. I knew he didn't intend for it to purposefully hurt my feelings because he wasn't that sort of malicious person. But he and Fred had a tendency to take jokes too far, and this definitely pushed the limit.

I put on a neutral face and tried to act as if the hissing didn't bother me.

'So Rosie, heard your boyfriend is a little sick' James said.

'Aw wittle Anton is sicky' Fred said mockingly.

Although I knew my cousins wouldn't purposely offend me, they made it no secret that they detested my friends. Especially Anton. Not that they had ever said anything to his face – he could be a pretty scary guy when he wanted to. He was also over a head taller than the two of them.

From where he was standing behind me, I sensed Clifford's anger at their jab at his brother. He stepped forward and I almost laughed out loud when James and Fred took a step back, clearly intimidated. I had never realized noticed before how tall Clifford was, and I guess my cousins hadn't either. He was the same height as his brother and even wider, thanks to his extensive quidditch training.

What James and Fred didn't know, was that Clifford was a wuss, and avoided actual physical contact at all costs. His only weapon was his size, which he used to his advantage in situations like these.

Wanting to avoid a full scale fight, I dragged Clifford past me with ease (which was surprising, given his size). James and Fred scurried off in the opposite direction. Some gryffindors.

As were heading down a moving staircase, we were met by Hayden who was running towards us.

'Anton's awake. Blake said he's really out of it' he said breathlessly.

I thanked Hayden and Clifford and I made our way to the dungeons, determined to get answers.

**Authors Note: **Thanks for reading! Please please please review – it makes my day, I swear! Special thanks to honeybadger who has been a very faithful reviewer:)

April Unicorn


	7. Chapter VII

We were met by a very solemn looking Anton. He was sitting up in bed and staring at the white wall opposite him, with a very far-away look in his eyes.

When he realized we had entered the room, after about a minute, he shook his head as if coming out of a daze and acknowledged us with his cute, signature half-smile. I returned it meaningfully. Clifford's hard expression, on the other hand, didn't waver and it looked like he was trying very hard not to lose control. It would have been rather funny, had the situation not been so serious.

I walked over to Anton and sat on the bed next to him. He looked at me with those gorgeous brown eyes and slipped his warm hand into mine. From over a year of dating him, I knew this was his usual gesture of reassurance, but today it didn't seem to satisfy me like it usually did. His hand felt unusually clammy and I figured it had been another effect of the cocaine.

He must have sensed my uneasiness because he lowered his head and pressed his lips against my hair. I leaned in instinctively and put my head against his neck. I had always loved being in this position with him. We were very rarely showed affection for each other with such a level of intimacy, so it made it extra special for me when we did. A loud cough from Clifford brought me out of my daze caused by the spicy scent of Anton's cologne.

'Are you two finished?' Clifford said angrily. Anton scoffed and pulled me in closer. Although I knew he probably did it to rile up Clifford even more, it still felt nice after nearly 24 hours of no affectionate human contact.

'How are you feeling?' I murmured to him, ignoring Clifford's menacing stare.

He shrugged in response, and I felt myself becoming angry at him again. I know I was acting bipolar, but seriously, after all I had done to care for him, to ensure he was in good health; his only acknowledgement of my help was a shrug of his shoulders?

One look at Clifford, and I sensed his train of thinking was on the same wavelength as mine. He took a step forward towards us and I felt the classic 'flint family tantrum' coming on.

'Are you actually so much of a prick, Anton, that you would act as if nothing has happened?' Clifford questioned. He took another step forward.

'Rose has been worrying herself sick all day about you. Even Blake was worried!' I looked at Anton's face and searched for some sort of notion of guilt, but to my annoyance, I found none. He just had that same neutral expression he had when we first came in to the dormitory. Maybe this was just some effect of the drug. Maybe he couldn't really process what we were saying at all. It wouldn't surprise me, considering the size of the empty packet which had held the cocaine.

A minute of awkward silence followed. Clifford and I waited for a response from Anton, but none came.

'Don't you have anything to say?' Clifford yelled.

Clifford's tone of voice seemed to have woken Anton up a bit.

I felt his gaze on me, but I stared at the floor instead. I didn't want him to see my expression of hurt and rejection. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting Anton to say. Maybe some sort of 'thankyou Rose' or even an apology. Not silence.

'Baby' Anton whispered. I didn't look up. 'Rose. Look at me sweetheart. Please.' I lifted my head slowly so my blue eyes met his brown ones.

'Why?' I asked, shaking my head slowly in confusion. 'I thought it was over'

'It's not that easy Rose'

'How long?' Clifford asked softly, his tantrum subsiding.

'Just that once' Anton replied.

I gave him a hard stare. It was always hard to deduct whether or not Anton was telling the truth. Over the years he had managed to master the mask he wore, making it nearly impossible to read him accurately.

'I swear' he said earnestly, and I at once believed him. Not because I was entirely certain he was telling the truth, but because I badly wanted to believe it had only been that once.

I nodded and kissed his shoulder through his thin shirt. I looked up at his face and saw the corners of his sweet mouth turn upwards into a dazzling half-smile.

Anton shifted his stare to his brother, and I turned to see Clifford scowling next to us.

'You still haven't given us answers Anton'

I nodded in agreement with Clifford.

'We won't judge you baby' I told him truthfully. If it had been anyone else I probably would have judged them – a regrettable aspect of my nature, but because it was Anton, one of the people in the world I was probably closest to (Scorpius and my parents shared that title), I didn't.

Anton sighed and went back to staring at the opposite wall.

'You guys wouldn't understand' he said softly. 'You're fifth years. You don't feel the pressure yet'

His voice was so sorrowful I almost forgave him then and there. I probably would have if it wasn't for Clifford's scoff of interruption.

'Come on. Don't act like you suddenly care about your future' Clifford said as his crossed his arms.

There was a few moments of silence before Anton spoke again, this time, much softer than before.

'I got a letter from Dad'

Clifford drew in his breath sharply at this, and uncrossed his arms immediately. Anton wouldn't meet my eyes and this time it was his turn to stare at the floor. I wasn't exactly sure what to say. Neither of the Flint boys ever mentioned their father. I knew their parents had separated from a young age, and that they spent the majority of the time living in their manor with their father, Marcus. I had also concluded that their relationship with Marcus was strained if their lack of letters to him were any indication.

A look of understanding passed between the two brothers.

I spoke up. 'I don't understand' I started slowly. 'Why would this cause you to…you know'

Both boys sighed and another look passed between them. I was starting to become slightly exasperated. What was with all the secrecy? I was Anton's girlfriend and Clifford's friend for Merlin's sake. Why wasn't anyone telling me what was going on?

'Well?' I pressed on.

'Look…Rose' Anton started in an infuriatingly superior voice. 'Just don't worry about it, okay?'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

'Don't worry about it?' I repeated, my voice rising. 'You almost over dosed Anton. Of course I fucking worry!'

Clifford winced at my swearing. I didn't blame him – the situation had to be pretty intense for me to swear.

Despite my outburst, neither boy attempted to explain the situation to me, which only further fuelled my anger. Anton was going red in the face, a sure sign of anger. I didn't care though, all I wanted at that point was answers, and I was determined to get them.

'I've been busting my arse worrying about you Anton. I sat next to you as you slept for _hours _waiting for you to wake up, I – '

'For merlins sake Rose just stay out of it!' Anton yelled, effectively cutting me off.

I was fuming now. How dare he cut me off? I was the one that should be yelling at him, not the other way round. He was the one who had done wrong, not me. I looked at Clifford for some answers but all I got was a bent head.

'Fine' I muttered angrily, grabbing my bag. I stormed out of the dormitory and slammed the door behind. If they wanted be like that, then fine. I was done dealing with stupid Flint boys anyway.

**Authors Note: **I'm not very happy with this chapter, because Rose is sort of bi polar and changes her opinions unrealistically quickly, so I apologise for that. I realize there hasn't been much Scorpius/Rose action yet, but it will come very soon I promise. And the focus on Anton won't last for too long either, its just something I need to develop in order to get the story going. Thankyou to everyone who has followed and reviewed, and pleased continute to do so.

April Unicorn


	8. Chapter VIII

I arrived at potions the next morning in a foul mood. I hadn't slept a wink the night before. For hours, I had just lain in bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about Anton. I was almost certain that when I had walked of his dormitory, he would eventually call me back. But I got nothing.

By the time five am came round I was still in the same uncomfortable position in my bed as I had been at ten pm. My dear roommates had no idea I had been awake the entire night. No, they just glided on into the dormitory at 10:30 and were out like a light. Not even Sapphire's soothing snores could lull me to sleep (I had grown fond of the sound after many years).

During those seven hours of thinking I had come up with the following conclusions: 1. I was very angry at Anton and Clifford for not telling me the problem. 2. Whatever the problem was, it was serious 3. Despite my anger, I was willing to forgive Anton and help him through this difficult time and 4. I still had no idea what the problem was in the first place. I had basically gotten nowhere.

So needless to say, in potions on that Monday morning I wasn't feeling quite up to par. It also didn't help that some sort of progress must have been made between Jamieson and Scorpius, judging by the fact that they were sitting together – which had never happened, ever. It just made me so frustrated that Jamieson had managed to pull Scorpius in using one of her tricks. I figured that her 'tricks' were probably only effective when Scorpius was alone – i.e. when I was out of the picture.

I realized with a stab of guilt that I hadn't paid much attention to Hayden and Scorpius lately. Not just in the past weekend, but all year. Ever since my relationship with Anton had turned serious the boys and I had slowly drifted apart.

I angrily pressed the quill I was holding to my parchment as I took notes from the board. Because I was late, the only available space was a one person desk at the back. Everyone knew the worst position to be in potions was the back. The person at the back was always last to the ingredients cupboard, meaning their ingredients were dodgy and it took longer, and professor Slughorn always picked on people in the back. I wrote down the final thing on the board and focussed my eyes on Scorpius and Jamieson who were sitting at the front of the class.

Scorpius, I was happy to see, didn't seem like he was enjoying the idea of sitting next to Jamieson. I could hear her shrill blabbering all the way from where I was sitting, although I couldn't make out what she was saying exactly – her voice was too fast and high pitched.

After about a minute or so Scorpius had also appeared to finish taking notes because he put quill down and leant back in his seat. My gaze landed on his hair, the golden colour of which was a perfect mixture of his mother's brown and his father's blonde hair. It was messy at that moment – just the way I liked it. Scorpius' hair had always been a subject of great interest to me. That and his gorgeous eyes. People might have thought it was inappropriate of me to think of my best friend as attractive, but I figured that if it was the truth, it might as well be acknowledged.

I was brought out of my trance when Scorpius moved his neck around, as if looking for someone. His eyes met mine and I as if I hadn't been ogling him for the past five minutes. His winked at me and I smirked. He turned his body back to the front briefly and came back with a blue notebook which he held up for me to see.

Ah. The old blue notebook. I nodded and smiled and reached in my bag for one that was the exact same.

When we were in first year, Scorpius gave me a blue notebook for Christmas that was identical to his. They had been purposely charmed so that if one person wrote something down in their book it would appear in the other person's book immediately. Sort of like a chat system.

I opened the notebook to see Scorpius had already written to me.

_Remind me again why I'm sitting next to Nott_

_Be careful Scorp. She might see._

_Nah, she's not even halfway through. Besides, she's incapable of performing too many tasks at once._

_Little harsh, Scorp?_

_You don't understand. She spent all last night following me around and trying to convince me to say yes to staying with her family at Christmas._

_But you're coming to mine this Christmas! Did you tell her that?_

_I did, but she didn't take no for an answer. _

I clenched my fists angrily. Jamieson was being so bloody annoying. Scorpius and I had planned for him to come my house for the Christmas holidays _last _Christmas, when I had spent it at his place. I wasn't going to let her mess this up. I had hardly seen Scorpius all term. Scorpius, being the ever observant one, must have sensed my frustration because he quickly changed the topic.

_So, you wanna tell me what went on with your boyfriend last night?_

_How is it you always know when something's up?_

_Just answer my question Rosie._

_Don't call me that. And he's sick, like I said._

_I don't believe you_

Of course he doesn't. Damn Scorpius and his uncharacteristically accurate intuition. I mean seriously, what teenage guy is that observant? Too bad for Scorpius that I was an uncharacteristically good liar. I had managed to dodge both my parent's genes regarding _that _trait.

_It's the truth! You can see for yourself tonight._

_Whateverrrrrrrrrrr_

We stopped conversing once Slughorn resumed talking again. Despite what everyone believes, I actually wanted to do well on my OWLs this year – not necessarily to please my mother, though it could earn me a new broomstick, but because I knew they considered your OWLs when you apply for some jobs, especially at the ministry.

It had been my dream ever since I could remember to be an unspeakable. I had always been a very secretive person and had enjoyed putting a touch of mystery on my personality. Not only that, I had always been fascinated with the actual department in the ministry – my favourite 'war story' of mum and dad's was when they were in fifth year and had actually been in there.

I had also spoken with Scorpius' dad, who had very high  
connections to the department of ministries, and had said that he would put in a good word for me. He also said that with high OWL and NEWT results I would increase my chances of acceptance significantly.

Anton had also wanted to be an unspeakable, but that was before he discovered that you actually had to try hard in school to get the results to get in. Thoughts of Anton brought me back to the present.

Scorpius had known something was up, and it was a matter of time before the others caught on. The best option at this point in time was to keep going with the story of him being sick, and try to get him as soon as possible. Of course, that might not happen if the Flint brothers don't hurry up and tell me whats wrong.

To be fair, it had been a bit over 12 hours since we last saw each other so there hadn't been much chance for interaction yet. Clifford was sitting at the front in the desk next to Scorpius, but was paying attention to Slughorn, which wasn't something you saw a Flint do every day. He was obviously trying to avoid me, but it was in vain.

As soon as the bell went for next period I basically leapt out of the classroom to catch up with Clifford. But it was to no avail. As I exited the room I felt a tug at my arm. I looked around to find my younger cousin Lily staring up at me with those big, brown, annoying eyes of hers.

Lily had always gotten under my skin. She was forever putting on the 'baby act' to get attention, not that she needed any more. She had turned into quite the beauty at the tender age of thirteen and was the subject of many conversations of third boys in the Slytherin common room.

'What do you want?' I asked curtly. I was still ticked off that I hadn't caught up with Clifford.

'I got a letter from Dad this morning. I'm supposed to pass on a message to you' She said, getting to the point.

'Okay. What is it?'

'For some reason, he wants _you_ to speak at the New Years Function for the ministry this year.' I opened my mouth, but she cut me off.

'Don't ask me why, I don't know. But you have to prepare a speech and he'll go over with you at Christmas.'

With that she flounced off, obviously angry at the fact that for once, I would be the centre of attention.

Uncle Harry had always had a soft spot for me, much more so than my cousins and aunts and uncles, so it wasn't surprising that he would ask me. I put it out of my mind however, because Anton was walking towards me, with a trickle of blood running down the side of his face.

**Authors Note: **Two updates in one day:) go me! Haha thanks for reading guys and please review I really love it.

April Unicorn


	9. Chapter IX

'Shit!'

I ran over to Anton and placed my hands under his armpits. I dragged him over to the closest wall just in time, as his legs gave way, and he slumped over, barely conscious. I crouched down in front of him and inspect his face closely. The blood seemed to have come from a nasty looking cut on the top right corner of his forehead. His right eye was coloured a revolting purple colour and there were fist marks over his eyelids. Someone had obviously punched him in the eye.

I momentarily forgot I was mad at him and put my limited healing experience to the test. I managed to stop the bleeding, close up the wound and lessen the bruising over his eye. He looked so helpless and in pain I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

After a few minutes he slowly lifted his head up and his pained eyes met mine.

'Rose' Anton whispered raggedly and extended his arm to touch my face as if he couldn't see it properly. Looking at his face again, I realized this was probably the case so I performed a spell to enhance eyesight (one I found very useful on the quidditch pitch during rainy weather).

'What happened?' I whispered back, being careful not to startle him with my voice.

Anton grimaced, as a look of what I deduced to be one of remembrance, clouded his face. His fists were clenched as they lay limply at his side. One look at them and I could tell that he had also thrown some punches. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. On one hand, I was pleased he was standing up for himself, on the other, he was resorting to violence, which, in my opinion, is never the answer.

'Look, baby'

I nearly smiled when I heard his pet name for me. But I resisted. Although part of me was feeling sorry for him, it didn't mean I had completely forgiven him.

'I'm sorry' Anton continued. 'I'm sorry for not telling you what was going on. I didn't want you to worry about me'.

'Answer my question, Anton'

There was a few moments of silence, as Anton seemed to gather his words together, his adorable (wait, I'm supposed to be angry at him!) eyebrows gathering in thought.

'Just promise me you won't do anything to Clifford' he said, his voice considerably stronger now.

Clifford? What did _he _have to do with this? Anton couldn't possibly expect me to believe that Clifford, the wuss, had caused his older brother physical harm. I shook my head and a look of disbelief crossed my face.

'He was angry at me Rose. I mean, _really _angry. We had gotten into a fight because I had wanted to show you the letter my Dad had sent'

I gave him my classic 'are you serious' look. Although I didn't know much about his relationship with his father, I couldn't believe that whatever was in a letter could cause Anton to do drugs. As for Clifford, although it was true he got angry easily, he wasn't one for resorting to aggressive violence. Anton, on the other hand had a tendency to do so.

'You expect me to believe that Clifford did _that _to you?' I asked, motioning to his face.

'I swear to you Rose, I'm not lying!' Anton stressed.

I moved away from him slowly and studied his face from a distance. Anton was a master of emotions, and always had been. Even I sometimes couldn't tell what his was really thinking, and I had always prided myself on my ability to read others.

But I had this feeling, deep in my gut, that told me I should trust Anton. Besides, when had he ever lied to me before? Never. Although he didn't tell me about the cocaine, he had never actually lied about it. He had always been up front about everything to me, even before we started going out.

I even felt bad for not trusting him. I was supposed to be his girlfriend of over a year, after all. What sort of loyal girlfriend doesn't trust her guy?

After a while I nodded my head slowly in recognition of his reason, still shocked at the thought of Clifford punching his own brother, and moved over to sit next to him against the wall. He pulled his arm around my waist and the side of my body was pressed against his. He was sweaty, but I didn't mind. I was in too good of a mood at that moment, which was ironic, considering I had been angry at him minutes before. Though I suppose it was hard to be completely angry with Anton, ever. Those eyes were just too gorgeous.

'Look Rose' he started 'As soon as you left the room, I felt so bad. I wanted to pull you back and tell you everything'

I smiled to myself. I _knew _Anton wouldn't have wanted to let go of me so easily.

'It's just, Clifford would rather be private about our…family affairs'

I snorted at this. 'Anton, babe, you're not exactly open about family affairs either'

To my surprise, he chuckled. I was scared he wouldn't take it as a joke – it wouldn't have been the first time.

'That may be. But I don't like keeping things from you.' When he said 'you' he pulled me in closer, so I was basically sitting on his lap.

I felt his tender lips kiss my fore head. However, I pulled my head away before it could go any further. I wouldn't let him distract me. He hadn't told me the whole story yet.

'Anton. What did the letter from your father say' I demanded, rather than asked.

He sighed, and rubbed the palms of his hands together. He generally did this gesture when he was nervous about something.

'My dad…he wants me to work for him when I leave Hogwarts'

I frowned. Surely working for his dad can't be _that _bad. It would be a secure job, and considering Anton wasn't prepared to put in the work required to actually _get _a good job, he shouldn't complaining.

I told him this.

He replied with the classic Anton line - 'You don't understand'

'I don't understand _what _Anton'

'About my dad's business. It's not exactly legal you know'

I honestly was not surprised. From the stories I had been told about Marcus Flint from my dad and Uncle Harry, Marcus hadn't been hesitant to cheat during Quidditch matches back in the day. Who was to say he wouldn't bend the rules concerning other matters too?

But still, I couldn't imagine either of _my_ parents running an illegal business for a living.

Anton took my minute of thinking the wrong way.

'Please don't be angry Rose' he pleaded. His face looked so cute when he did that.

'I'm not angry Anton. I'm pleased. It's good that you don't want to be involved in illegal activity. But why would that make you..you know' I didn't actually want to say the words 'cocaine' or 'drugs'.

'You don't und-'

'Don't even think about it' I interrupted.

Anton sighed again. He seemed to have been doing a lot of that as of late.

'Dad can be kind of forceful when he wants to. It's not easy to say no'

It took me a minute to process the implications of what Anton just said. Did forceful mean violent? Had Marcus Flint abused his children? I couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to me before. I just assumed the reason for their strained relationship was that he wasn't interested in their lives.

I looked up at Anton with a solemn expression.

'He didn't…I mean he hasn't…hit you, has he?' I whispered in disbelief.

Anton hung his head in answer and I took it as a yes. I tried to hide my shock at what Anton had just confessed to me. I didn't want him to have to worry about my reaction on top of everything else.

I felt horrible for being angry with him. To think that Anton and Clifford had been living in a place where they had to watch their backs, and were in constant fear of being physically harmed. It made me sick. I wanted to strangle Marcus Flint with my bare hands – I had never wanted to inflict so much pain on someone in my life.

But I put that out of my mind, along with the speech I had to prepare for Uncle Harry, and the situation with Jamieson and Scorpius. I had to focus on Anton now.

Tears were forming in my eyes as I continued to picture the hell hole that seemed to be Anton's life. I tightened my grip on him and he pulled me onto his lap.

Our lips met. We started slow, and snogged passionately, our tongues intertwining as our emotions poured out of one another. His of pain, and mine of sympathy.

As we sat there for hours, I made a promise. From then on, I would be the perfect girlfriend to Anton.

**Authors Note: **Not as strong an ending as I would have liked, but I'm tired and I figured I should update before I got to bed, so here it is:) thanks again to honey badger for reviewing, and I everyone else to also please please please review! Thanks so much for reading my story, I hope you're enjoying. More Scorpius coming up soon – there will be plenty of time for scorose romance don't worry.

April Unicorn


	10. Chapter X

A few weeks had passed since Anton's slip up, and our relationship had never been stronger. I had fulfilled the role of the 'perfect girlfriend' and found myself spending the majority of my time outside class with him, and was hoping to continue to do so.

Of course, not everyone was happy with this new arrangement. In fact, it seemed everyone except the two of us had a problem with it. Normally I wouldn't care, but a recent confrontation with Hayden changed that slightly.

He had cornered me on Friday, after the last class of the day. I had been in a rush to meet Anton in the library for a 'study session' (which usually ended up with me on his lap and our books untouched), and accidently bumped into Hayden darting around a corner.

'Rose, come hang out with us, we're having an old fashioned sleepover' he said to me once he had helped gather the books I dropped.

Usually I would have jumped at the chance of one my group's sleepovers – they had always been the highlight of the term. But I knew Anton wanted to see me, especially because I saw he had received a letter that morning. I had hoped that he would confide in me about it in the library that night.

'Thanks but not tonight. I have to meet – '

'Anton' he finished for me. 'Come on Rose, you see him all the time now. Surely you can miss him for one night. He won't mind'

That was where Hayden had been wrong. I knew that Anton would most certainly mind me going to a sleepover. Especially one that consisted of other males. Although I had made it clear to him on countless occasions about the nature of Scorpius and I's, and Hayden and I's relationship. Not that I blame him of course. If he had a friend he was close to who was a girl, I wouldn't want him spending the night in the same room as her either.

'Look Hayden, I already made plans, I can't cancel now. Sorry' I said and attempted to push past him, but it was to no avail. Hayden had that determined look on his face – one that said that he was not going to let this go.

'This is getting ridiculous. You see him _all _the time'

'That's not true, and you know it. I don't see him all the time. I spend more time with you than I do with him'

A look of hurt crossed Hayden's face.

'You say that like it's a bad thing' he said softly. He looked defeated, and I felt guilty for it. However, despite my guilt, I knew Anton needed me more than my friends did. Although he had lots of mates, none of them understood what he was going through.

I had sighed and walked off to meet Anton, but despite my best efforts I couldn't get the look Hayden had on his face out of my mind.

The night before Christmas break saw Anton and me sitting in the common room together. We were sharing a one person couch, and (surprise, surprise!) were snogging. But they weren't our usual chaste kisses. In the heat of the moment, my tie had been flung off by an impatient Anton, while his wondering hands were caressing the skin of my stomach. His hands hadn't quite reached home yet, but they were heading there.

The reason for our not-so-g-rated get together was because we wouldn't be seeing each other until the annual 'Flint New Years Eve Party', which I had finally managed to get permission to go to after 3 years of begging my parents.

Our snog fest was interrupted by a very loud clearing of the throat, courtesy of my dear best friend Scorpius.

Surprisingly, in its beginnings, Scorpius hadn't had much to say about the increased closeness of Anton and I's relationship. But I noticed he had been generally more distant when I did spend time with him, which only really consisted of time in class. In fact, since that chat we had had via our corresponding notebooks, we had barely spoken at all.

'If you love birds are finished' he said. Anton grunted in a way that clearly implied we _weren't_, but Scorpius chose to ignore that. To be honest I was slightly relieved when Anton and I were forced to pull apart. I needed to breathe after all, and my lips were severely chapped and swollen from all of our…er…activities.

I smiled at Scorpius, and he took it as an indication to continue.

'Rose I was just wondering which broomstick I should pack'

One of the main things Scorpius and I got up to whenever he came to stay at mine was quidditch. We pretty evenly matched and the garden of my rural house made the ideal spot to play.

'Why would Rose care about your broomsticks Malfoy?' Anton questioned rudely. I smacked him lightly in the ribs. He looked at me sternly, then turned back to Scorpius.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at Anton. Honestly, why couldn't they get along? If Scorpius had had a girlfriend I would have gotten along with her, even if it was the sake of Scorpius and I's friendship. On the other hand, I guess I wouldn't call myself 'friends' with Anton's best guy Blake.

'Because, Flint' He said Anton's last name with intense malice 'I'm staying with her family over Christmas'

'You're what?' Anton question loudly and I slowly started to move off of his lap and onto the arm of the chair. I knew Anton would react like this. That's why I had been planning on telling him at the end of the train journey the next day, so I wouldn't be there while he went through his immediate anger period (which could potentially last from 3 hours to a week). I knew after that he would be okay with it, so long as I spent the entire New Years Eve party with him, as that would be our only time together during the Christmas break.

'Baby, calm down' I said as Anton slowly stood up. I regretted reminding him of my presence, because he turned his glare to me.

'Is it true, Rose?' he said in that menacingly quiet-before-a-storm voice of his.

'I-I was going to tell you. It was a last minute thing' That, of course, was a blatant lie. Scorpius and I had planned it months ago.

Scorpius nodded in agreement with me. I knew he would have loved any excuse to get Anton angry, but our friendship seemed to be of more value to him – something that I had never been more grateful for at that moment.

'My parents scheduled a last minute anniversary holiday, and Rose's parents kindly took me in'

I beamed at Scorpius from where I was standing behind Anton. Thank god for him and his quick thinking. He had an expression on his face which clearly translated to 'you owe me'.

'Well Rose' Anton said and I nearly gulped in fear of what was coming. Being familiar with Anton and his quick temper, which had only gotten worse with the most recent letter from his father, I had a pretty good idea of what.

'Since your parents love Malfoy so much, maybe you should date _him_!'

Anton stormed out of the common room dramatically. Scorpius chuckled from beside me and I gave him a death glare.

'What? He sounded like such a girl'

I scowled at the infuriating blonde that was my best friend and made my way up to my dormitory. Although I was worried about my argument with Anton, I knew it wouldn't have a significant effect on our relationship.

I had dealt with an angry Anton many times in the past so I knew the drill. Let his anger subside, which could take a certain amount of time depending on the degree of the situation, and then apologise to him. Even if he was the person in the wrong, it was just easier that way.

But that didn't mean I wasn't standing up for myself, because I was. I let him know what I wanted and I didn't let him treat me badly. I just had common sense and smartly avoided situations which could potentially be damaging to our relationship. In other words, I was being the perfect girlfriend.

Before I went to sleep that last night of the term, the blue notebook beside my bed lit up. I opened it quickly and found a message written in Scorpius' familiar scrawl.

_Sorry if I caused shit between you and Flint. _

I smiled at Scorpius' sincerity and wrote a quick reply.

_Don't worry yourself. All will be fine._

I knew that was enough to reassure him, and it really was the truth. I didn't blame Scorpius for bringing up the subject of the Christmas break. How was he supposed to know I had been cowardly waiting to tell Anton about it on the train home? As long Anton and I stay boyfriend and girlfriend, and Scorpius stayed my friend, everything would be okay. I was sure of it.

**Authors Note: **Yeah…so thanks for reading and please tell me what you think!

April Unicorn


	11. Chapter XI

**Authors Note: **I'm very very very sorry for the late update but I've had a lot going on recently. My childhood best friend died very suddenly and I'm on a holiday with very limited access to the internet. So yeah, sorry about that. This chapter's kind of short as well.

The next day, everything panned out just as I predicted it would. It seemed Anton had been trying to avoid me. He succeeded, because I didn't catch a glance of him the entire train ride.

Anton wasn't the only member of the Flint family who was avoiding me. I still hadn't gotten a chance to talk things out with Clifford, and after searching for him on the Hogwarts Express, I had come to the conclusion that he was either staying at Hogwarts over the break (though it was unlikely, because he was a big fan of the Flint New Years Eve do) or he was an exceptionally good hider.

Jamieson also seemed to be a bit pissed off at me and I held a strong suspicion it had something to do with Scorpius staying at my house for the holidays. Of course, I didn't give her frustration with me a second thought, and she knew this, which seemed to only increase her annoyance. She was very aware of my opinion on her feelings for Scorpius, as I had made them clear to her on more than one occasion. As I expected, Claudine stood by Jamieson and also refused to acknowledge me. It didn't bother me. I had bigger problems going on in my life at the point in time, and I knew this whole thing would blow over soon enough.

So the train ride back from Hogwarts mostly consisted of Scorpius, Hayden and I just hanging out in our own compartment. I felt quite nostalgic about it, considering we hadn't done something like that in a long time, what with me and Anton dating, Jamieson's refusal to let Scorpius out of her sight and Hayden's mysterious 'escapades' with Claudine. It was nice to catch up with what was going on in my friends' lives. It was obvious that Scorpius had been looking for an opportunity to complain about Jamieson.

'Honestly, it's like she's a bloody dog or something. She won't stop following me around! Last week she invited me to her house for the _entire _summer break'.

'Hang on, your coming to my house for those holidays' Hayden said after he and I had stopped snickering at Scorpius' misfortunes.

'That's what I told her'

'You didn't invite her, did you?' I asked, expecting the worst. It wouldn't have surprised me if Scorpius did. He had a tendency to blurt things out without thinking them through first. Its how he ended up with a month's worth of detention in third year, and a slap from Samantha Davies in fourth.

'God no…no. I kind of told her that Hayden could only invite his two closest friends'.

I slapped my hand to my forehead. Scorpius could be so blunt at times. It had always been a sore spot for not only Jamieson, but Claudine and Clifford as well, that Scorpius, Hayden and I shared a more in depth relationship.

'You dick' Hayden groaned. Scorpius raised his eyebrows at his accusation.

'How does this affect you?' I asked.

'Yeah, I saved you from spending the summer with Nott' Scorpius said.

'You're the reason I haven't had any decent action all week'

Oh god. That was too much information. I mean, we all knew Hayden and Claudine had discovered the benefits of being 'close friends' but did he really have to discuss his sex life in front of me.

I raised my hands in front of my face.

'If you guys are going to have conversations about sex, I'm leaving before you violate me'

Hayden scoffed.

'As if you and Anton aren't doing it'

I inwardly cursed my genes when my cheeks reddened. We _had _done it, but only three times. I hated discussing the…intimacies of my relationship with Anton. One glance at Scorpius told me he also wasn't comfortable with the topic of conversation, so I quickly changed it to quidditch before things got heated.

The rest of our time on the Hogwarts Express was spent playing exploding snap and chatting. We avoided any heavy topics, and Hayden seemed to be still slightly off with Scorpius and after realizing he was the reason for his lack of a sex life for the past week.

When the train pulled up at platfor took a quick glance at Jamieson to see she was positively fuming as Scorpius followed me over to where my mother was standing. Feeling high – and dare I say a bit cocky – from the fun I had on the train, I snuck in a little smirk at Jamieson and Claudine as we passed them. She subtly gave me the finger in response. Scorpius didn't seem to notice our little exchange and greeted my mother with the same level of politeness he usual did.

'Mrs Weasley, thank you for having me' He nodded at her and stuck out his hand, which she shook.

'Scorpius. It's always a pleasure to see you dear' mum said pleasantly.

'Rosie darling, come and give me a hug'. Scorpius snorted softly from where he was standing behind me. I glared at him from where mum had me in a tight hold. It had always been clear to both my family and friends that I was not a touchy-feely person, and certainly not one for hugging. Anton was the obvious exception.

I finally escaped mum's wrath and we all flooed home to my house (Hugo went with the Potters where he was due to spend the afternoon). Thankfully, dad was out at that time, having an auror mission scheduled until midnight Christmas eve (which was the next day). Although dad had accepted that I was in Slytherin, he had made it clear that he did not approve my choice of friends. His opinion was based entirely on their heritage, rather than their personalities, which annoyed me to no end. I mostly ignored his jabs at my friends when we were alone, but I got very defensive when he was rude in their presence.

As soon as we entered the house I dragged Scorpius to my room. We weren't allowed to sleep in the same room for obvious reasons, so he stayed in the guest room. Mum and Dad both earned quite a lot of money, so when I was born we moved into the lavish home in which we now live in. It had five bedrooms, six bathrooms and was three levels. It wasn't nearly as glamorous as Malfoy Manor, or my other friends' houses of course.

Scorpius and I had a brilliant time at my house. Most of our days leading up to New Years' Eve were spent in our massive back yard playing quidditch. Scorpius had shot up recently and was an advantage when it came to handling the bludgers and quaffle, but I was lighter so it was easier for me to fly faster than him. Hugo even joined us at times, but was still slightly terrified of Scorpius, which was a source of great amusement for me.

The awkward Christmas lunch at the burrow was bearable only because of Scorpius' company. I made polite conversation with my uncle Harry regarding my speech at the Ministry's New Years' Function, and spoke briefly to Teddy and Victorie. Other than that, the lunch basically consisted of Scorpius and I sitting on the outside and mucking around. It was probably one of the most relaxing and enjoyable Christmases I'd ever had.

**Authors Note: **I know, a bit of a weird spot to end it, but I had to finish it somewhere haha. Thanks for reading, again, I apologise for the late update.

April Unicorn


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